Red Bull and Toro Rosso searching for Canadian points

This weekend, the Formula One circus will store its tents at Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. The Red Bull Racing Team and the Scuderia Toro Rosso are looking forward to the race at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit.

Scuderia Toro Rosso

"We will be running new front and rear wings to suit the low downforce nature of the track," comments Giorgio Ascanelli. "The front wing also requires new bargeboards and all these items will have their first track test on Friday. For now, we're having to trust in our wind tunnel data. Of course we have new braking solutions for this track which is the hardest on brakes, while also keeping some elements of our Monaco package as Montreal is also a soft tyre, bumpy circuit. There are further changes aimed at improving reliability."

Red Bull Racing

"Our preparation takes into account this is the hardest circuit on brakes on the calendar," says Adrian Newey. "Like most teams therefore we will be focussing some attention on our brake ducts and also running a smaller rear wing. We also now have to comply with a new Deflection Test introduced by the FIA to ascertain if your rear wing is flexing illegally. We tested our Montreal configuration on the last two days of a Ricard test before Monaco. The rear wing we ran at this test was a cut-down version of our Melbourne wing, so Montreal will be the first outing for our definitive low downforce rear wing. We are also trying to get on top of our reliability problems that centred on gearbox electrics and hydraulics. I think we have moved forward on that front. David has a fresh engine for this race, while Mark is using the one he had in Monaco."

Historical

"What would have been my first ever F1 race win as an engineer should have been Canada in 1991, when Nigel Mansell was leading here by a considerable margin," recalls Adrian Newey. The rest as they say is history*. "At the time, it was very hard to take, because I thought, finally after years of trying with Leyton House and Williams, I was going to win one and then, just a quarter of a mile to the finish it all went wrong. I remember being extremely dejected."

* Mansell decided to wave to the crowd and according to some versions of the truth, the fact he was no longer changing gear upset the engine software and the car coasted to a halt.